TUSCALOOSA, Ala. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Teghan Henderson (Pickering, Ontario) finished less than two seconds out of first place the NCAA Cross Country South Region Meet Friday morning and earned a spot in the NCAA National Championships.

“She ran at the front most of the race,” UTC Head Coach Bill Gautier said. “She came out and ran with the confidence I had hoped she would run with. She got passed at the end by the Florida runner and she tried to come back.”

Henderson, the Southern Conference Runner of the Year, earned all-region honors with her effort and led the Lady Mocs to a 14th place region finish. She covered the 6-kilometer course, her longest this season, in a time of 20:00.42 and placed third overall. Florida State’s Colleen Quigley took top honors with a time of 19:58.55 followed by Florida’s Cory McGee who edged Henderson at the finish line with a time of 20:00.19.

In the men’s race, senior Lucas Cotter (Collierville, Tenn.) closed out his cross country career at UTC with all-region honors finishing 17th overall. He covered the 10K course in a time of 30:35.21 and led the Mocs to an 11th place finish at the region meet.

Senior Mark Cole (McKenzie, Tenn.) placed 42nd overall out of 173 runners with a time of 31:07.46 and sophomore Paul Stuart (Brentwood, Tenn.)was 55th with a time of 31:30.05. John Gilpin (Nashville, Tenn.) was the fourth Chattanooga runner across the line with a time of 31:40.94 followed by junior Trevor Janssen (St. Catherine’s, Ontario) who placed 87th with a time of 32:00.20.

“Lucas [Cotter] and Mark [Cole], what a way to end a career,” Gautier said of his seniors. “They did a great job, the whole team did. I thought we might get seventh or eighth, but I’m very proud of the way they ran.”

The Mocs were just 15 points out of eighth place and five behind Georgia Tech.

In the women’s race, sophomore Rebecca Greenwall (Bogart, Ga.) finished 85th out of 194 runners with a time of 21:53.36 and junior Keeley Stewart (Winchester, Tenn.) was 95th with a time of 21:59.01. Freshman Jessica York (Normandy, Tenn.) was the fourth Lady Moc across the line with a time of 22:19.31 and Amanda Cotter (Bristol, Conn.) was the final scoring Chattanooga runner with a time of 22:51.47.

Cotter was running with Greenwall but fell along the course, dropping her from the front fifth of runners to nearly the back.

“Amanda fell and she was struggling,” Gautier said. “I encouraged her to get up and continue and she did, but it took a lot out of her.

“Keeley ran a strong race and Jessica was phenomenal. She did much better than I thought she would be able to do this early. The future is looking good for the women.”

The top two teams from each region along with the top four individuals not on a qualifying team earn an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championships. The meet will be in Terre Haute, Ind., also known as “Cross Country Town, USA” on Saturday, November 23 at the LaVern Gibson National Championship Cross Country Course. The 6-kilometer race will follow the men’s 10K race that begins at Noon EST.

Georgia won the men’s race and earned an automatic bid to the Nationals along with Florida. In the women’s race, Florida State finished first followed by Vanderbilt, securing both a spot at the nationals next weekend.

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